What Happened To Me?

I was sitting here thinking of a few things and I started to wonder what causes me to dislike certain political leaders, political parties, and global organizations.

Looking back, I used to be a proud member of Greenpeace. I remember hating Brian Mulrony but for the life of me I don't have the foggiest idea why. I used to hate the Catholic Church even though at the time I wouldn't have considered myself a Christian. I used to think gay marriage was a great idea. I used to think all war was evil. Heck I even liked Bill Clinton when he first appeared on the scene.

So what happened to me? How? When? Frankly I don't have the slightest idea.

I suspect that it started to happen around 1993 or 94. I remember disliking Bill Clinton around the time of the Lewinsky scandal and I remember bitching about the May Day parades they hold at UNB every year. That's not much for me to go on though.

In reading all the tributes to Ronald Reagan the last few weeks it seems that many people's political leanings have shifted due to a single event or the actions of a single person. Whether it was a certain war, social event, many people seem to shift quickly. Maybe I'm generalizing. Or maybe it is due to how people write these 'tribute' pieces that cause me to think their political leanings have changed quickly when in fact they haven't.

Regardless, it still doesn't answer the question of what caused me to change.

The best I can do is make educated guesses why my politics changed. I don't particularly favour any one of these over the other so don't get the impression that they are in some kind of order.

Here goes:

1) In 1994 I was 20 years old and like Winston Churchill liked to say as a person ages they naturally become more conservative. Perhaps I had conservative leanings all my life and it was just a matter of aging before they would dominate over my more liberal leanings. This reason of course removes all dependencies on myself or the world around me and hence I'm not particularly fond of it. Perhaps it really is this simple though.

2) In the mid-90s I started reading a lot of Greek classics. I was simply facinated by them. Up till that time I was certainly a history buff but more in the military sense, who fought who and who won. After reading the classics my analysis of history started to take a more cultural bent to it. Instead of seeing the rise and fall of the Greeks and then of the Romans I started to see it as the rise of Greek culture and its decimation through the ages to ourselves, their cultural progeny.

As Greece rose in power they sent colonists throughout the Mediterranian landing in many places like Italy, Spain, and North Africa. As Greece declined we see the rise of Rome who sent out its own colonists. As Rome declined we see the rise of its colonists in Gaul, Spain, and Britain. Regardless this entire process started by the Greeks ended up with me being here.

The fact that I am sitting here in Ottawa, Canada, can be traced straight back to the actions of the Greeks. Over two thousand years ago Greek republics and city-states existed which contained Senates where the activities of the state were discussed. These Senates voted on and put in place trading colonies. These in turn had to be defended causing these same Senates to then send out armies in their defense. And all through the ages it results in me being here. Now.

This point is getting a bit long so suffice it to say that at around this time I developed a much greater appreciation for my cultural heritage which I think has a great deal to do with my political opinions.

3) Moral relativism. I hate it.

I don't think I always did because when I was younger I probably used it plenty of times in trying to win an argument. Perhaps I still do and I'm unaware of it. Regardless, today I hold anyone who uses it with utter contempt. And since the left is quite fond of using moral relativism to win a debate it's only natural that I loath them and many of the things they believe in. As current examples you can use the 'George Bush is no better than Saddam' or the 'US is no better than the terrorists' phrases that anti-war folks like to throw around.

I HATE PEOPLE WHO SAY SHIT LIKE THIS! The moment someone says something like this I want to reach over and strangle them. I'm not kidding on this point. If I thought I could get away with it I probably would. I repeat I AM NOT KIDDING.

As far as I am concerned anyone who can say something like this is one or two genes away from being a monkey. Someone who is beyond contempt. When phrases like this are thrown out there every word that the person then utters becomes meaningless... the words of someone who is deranged.

Maybe this isn't fair since they may make many valid points aside from the relativistic crap. I may miss those valid points but it is simply how my brain is wired. Once they speak those magic words they might as well be a dog as far as I'm concerned because nothing they say is going to register in my head as being of any value.

4) Here is another simple one similar to #1... I started paying taxes in the mid-nineties. Sweet suffering what are they spending my money on! Nuff said.

5) My mother.

She raised three kids on her own. She had a low wage job, and not once did she take anything, charity or otherwise, from anyone. When I was younger I had no idea we were poor. I knew we weren't as well off as my friends but never did the thought that we were poor ever cross my mind. My mom was a magician when it came to hiding it. And being young I never cared to understand our money situation but when I got out to university and started having serious discussions with my mother about when we were growing up I suddenly realized how tough my mom had it.

I guess then I really started to judge social and welfare programs and the people who benefited from them based on my mother's example. I'm well aware of how brave and determined my mother must have been during those years but it seems now that I judge everybody on the standards that she set. Perhaps this isn't fair since she set the standard so high but once again that is how my brain works.

So thats it. I can't think of any other reasons. And like I said it may have been none of these or perhaps it was a combination of some of them that caused my opinions on things to change.